5. Key Definitions
Description
This article is from the Food Science FAQ, bypking123@sympatico.ca (Paul E. J. King) with numerous contributions by others.
5. Key Definitions
Food science --
is a coherent and systematic body of knowledge and understanding
of the nature and composition of food materials, and their behaviour
under the various conditions to which they may be subject.
Food technology --
is the application of food science to the practical treatment of
food materials so as to convert them into food products of the kind,
quality and stability, and so packaged and distributed, as to meet
the needs of consumers for safe, wholesome nutritious and attractive
foods.
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Thus, food science integrates the application to food of several
contributory sciences. It involves knowledge of the chemical
composition of food materials (for all food consists entirely of
chemical substances); their physical, biological and biochemical
behaviour; human nutritional requirements and the nutritional factors
in food materials; the nature and behaviour of enzymes; the
microbiology of foods; the interaction of food components with each
other, with atmospheric oxygen, with additives and contaminants, and
with packaging materials; pharmacology and toxicology of food
materials, additives and contaminants; the effects of various
manufacturing operations, processes and storage conditions; and the
use of statistics for designing experimental work and evaluating the
results.
Likewise, food technology draws on, and integrates the
application to food of, other technologies such as those of steel,
tinplate, glass, aluminium, plastics, engineering, instrumentation,
electronics, agriculture and biotechnology.
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